IT’S GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2026 We open in Florida, where NASA launched three astronauts (and one Canadian interloper) into space to reiterate America’s rightful claim to the moon. The 10-day trip around the lunar body—the first of its kind since the Nixon administration—will set the stage for a return to the moon’s surface in 2028 and, ultimately, a permanent base. Most people agree that this was awesome. As one enthusiastic Florida kid told CNN: “We’re going back to the f—ing moon!” Meanwhile, a handful of insufferable scolds whined about colonialism and warned that an American moon base could “violate international law”—to which any reasonable person might respond with a combination of “shut the f— up” and “drill, baby, drill.” Bottom line: The moon is ours; get over it. Don’t be insufferable; be Florida kid. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4ute!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F38c66c06-4bf4-42f4-97e5-ed9c86171493_736x490.jpeg Crucial context: Remember Kamala Harris? Before losing the 2024 election, she served as vice president of the United States and chair of the National Space Council. Her tenure there went almost as well as her efforts to solve the immigration crisis. She hired a bunch of child actors to listen to her cackle about the vastness of the universe, but the actual space program suffered a series of delays and mishaps on the VP’s watch. Despite her numerous failures, Harris can take pride in her one true accomplishment: Convincing the intelligence community to investigate its use of “gender-biased language.” Harris would have thrived in the Obama administration, when the head of NASA said the president’s “foremost” goal for the agency was to “reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering.” For example, one can easily imagine her yucking it up at a photo-op with Ahmed “Clock Boy” Mohamed. For those too young or brain-damaged to remember, Ahmed was the Muslim teenager who got in trouble for bringing a “homemade clock” to school that looked like a bomb. Barack Obama promptly invited him to the White House for “Astronomy Night.” Ahmed made an appearance, but not before jetting off to Sudan to meet with President Omar al-Bashir, aka “The Butcher of Darfur.” Ahmed and his family fled to Qatar less than a week after meeting Obama, and filed several lawsuits seeking millions of dollars for emotional distress, all of which were dismissed. Ah, those were days. AFFLICTING THE AFFLICTED https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3wsK!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f64f470-35e1-421b-be51-28698f6b6914_736x490.jpeg Everyone knows by now that Democrats are pro-crime. They have been for years. It’s only recently that they’ve become radicalized in opposition to crime victims. This week, anti-victim advocates in Providence, R.I., succeeded in forcing the removal of a mural dedicated to Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina who was randomly stabbed to death in August 2025. The city’s Democratic mayor called it “divisive,” while another local Democrat said the mural did not reflect the city’s “values,” and argued that removing it was the only way to ensure “every community member ... feels safe.” Because the mural was part of a nationwide campaign partially funded by Elon Musk, most Democrats instinctively opposed it. They angrily disputed the notion that Iryna’s murder—at the hands of a career criminal who should have been in jail—was a tragedy worth mourning. Few, if any, stood and applauded when Donald Trump recognized Iryna’s parents at his State of the Union address and promised to “ensure justice” for their daughter. A similar mural of Iryna was vandalized in Chicago. In Providence, aggrieved Democrats directed their outrage at the owners of the Dark Lady, a gay nightclub that agreed to host Iryna’s mural on their property. The owners fought back initially, insisting they were Democrats who opposed Donald Trump, and slammed the “deeply disturbing” criticism of what was supposed to be a “genuine act of kindness and remembrance.” The mural’s artist spoke out as well, urging critics to “put aside all of the political vitriol” and consider the fact that Iryna “was a human being with a mother and father, who are still with us and still grieving.” Alas, the insufferable scolding worked. The club owners issued a groveling apology and reiterated their commitment to “fostering unity, safety, and care for all members of our community.” So there you have it. In certain quarters of the country, artwork memorializing a murdered refugee is officially a threat to public safety, and opposing Trump means refusing to acknowledge the innocent victims he has ever mentioned by name. Meanwhile, in Fairfax County, Va., just beyond the nation’s capital, an illegal immigrant that local news outlets insist on calling a “Virginia dad” was arrested for killing his three-month-old daughter. One day earlier, a “38-year-old man” (also an illegal immigrant) was arrested for stabbing a man to death. The accused criminals will presumably be jailed alongside Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant with more than 30 prior arrests who fatally stabbed a woman at a bus stop in February. Fortunately, no one has proposed putting up any murals of the victims, otherwise residents might start to feel unsafe. VARIOUS & SUNDRY https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4KZb!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4d9e4be-ecde-47a5-8639-b5923503850d_736x490.jpeg Sympathy for the terrorist (sympathizers): Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, told campaign staffers last month that he didn’t want to discuss the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (may he rest in pieces) because a lot of his supporters were “sad” about the Iranian despot’s demise. According to audio obtained by the Free Beacon, El-Sayed said that if pushed to take a position, he would pivot to blaming Israel and calling Donald Trump a “pedophile.” Indeed, being mindful not to alienate pro-terrorism voters is just part of being an ambitious Democrat these days. El-Sayed will soon campaign alongside Hasan Piker, the left-wing influencer who said “America deserved 9/11.” Lemon Party: After celebrating Ramadan with terrorist sympathizers last month, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani was heckled at a “hip” Passover event once described as “half postmodern religious ritual and half cabaret.” Among the featured guests were Don Lemon, the former CNN host, and Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, aka Hadassah Gold, who was the subject of the 2024 documentary Sabbath Queen, which followed the rabbi’s “epic journey” as a “drag-queen rebel” who “challenge[s] patriarchy and supremacy.” Related: Don Lemon thinks he could be president of the United States, but suggested he would have a hard time running as an “independent,” so he would “probably have to become a Democrat.” Would he make a good president? Of course not. Would he have a decent shot at winning the Democratic nomination? Without question. Have you seen the field? Social media is poison: Being online is bad for your brain. People who spend more than five hours a day on social media are less likely to agree that democracy is “the best form of government,” according to a recent Gallup survey. Taylor Lorenz, the once-respected journalist, spends an average of 17 hours a day online, which might explain her support for terrorism and the “joy” she felt when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down by “national hero” Luigi Mangione. Inspiring Times: It took long enough, but we’re glad the New York Times has finally embraced the Stiles Section’s avant-garde approach to graphic design. The execution was terrible, and so was the accompanying article about all the “architects” who “say” and “warn” that Donald Trump’s ballroom expansion was poorly designed, which quotes a single architect who happens to serve on the preservation group suing to stop the ballroom’s construction. But it’s the thought that counts. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!odcW!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbdade8f1-715f-459b-a713-88727a3075e6_736x499.jpeg PALATE CLEANSER Social media isn’t all bad. This week X introduced a new AI-enabled feature that automatically translates posts written in other languages. The result was an explosion of interactions between American and Japanese users who bonded over the mutual affinity for grilling meat, among other things. We just celebrated the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so it’s great to see our two cultures coming together like this to exchange ideas and learn new things. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Nbjz!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F083c0387-5b35-48b1-bc46-eca66da2317f_736x499.jpeg HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND X: @AndrewStilesUSA Email: stiles@freebeacon.com If you have friends, tell them to subscribe to the Stiles Section newsletter. Send them here. Thanks for reading the Washington Free Beacon! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.